Offensive Coordinator Norm Chow

UCLA heads for the Smoky Mountains to play Tennessee, looking to show that last week's victory over San Diego State wasn't done with smoke and mirrors. The Volunteers will be out to avenge last year's loss to the Bruins at the Rose Bowl. Times staff writer Chris Foster looks at the key matchups and issues: Highly coordinated Tennessee offers the full Monte. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin joined his son, Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin, in Knoxville, bringing with him 25 years of NFL experience.

Here's what I don't get. One year ago UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel and Athletic Director Dan Guerrero get together and agree to extend, that's extend , Norm Chow's contract. So what changes in the next 10 months or so? Guerrero says he had extensive conversations with Neuheisel about Chow's contract status a year ago, and that Neuheisel "was convinced it was the appropriate thing to do. [Neuheisel] was very satisfied with the way things were going. " But things didn't go well for the Bruins.

Every season about this time, Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops is mentioned in connection with some high-profile coaching job that has opened up around the country. And every season, Stoops says he isn't going anywhere. On Thursday, however, he left the door open a crack. Days before his team will face top-ranked USC in the Orange Bowl, Stoops was asked if Nick Saban's getting nearly $5 million a year to coach the Miami Dolphins stirred any thoughts of going to the NFL. His answer?

The Arizona grandtwins have turned 1 and Emma is walking, so she'll undoubtedly be going to USC one day. Rylee , meanwhile, is still crawling, which is what prompted me to call on Rick Neuheisel on Tuesday. Neuheisel begins Year 4 at UCLA. His program is still looking to take its first big step, but now is seemingly mired in its own mess. Rylee can certainly relate to that. This mess is Neuheisel's own making as well, and frankly I'm surprised it's taking him so long to clean it up. UCLA had a better shot of beating USC than Norm Chow remaining as the Bruins' offensive coordinator, but here everyone sits waiting for Neuheisel to make it official.

Rick Neuheisel, still enjoying that new-car smell as UCLA's football coach, wasted little time in taking the job for a test drive. Neuheisel called Bruins defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, another finalist for the job, Saturday night to ask him to remain at UCLA. Neuheisel said he would also contact Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow to gauge his interest in coming west again. Walker, who could not be reached for comment, is at the top of Neuheisel's list.

UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft and the Bruins' offense labored Friday, flailing away during a no-pads practice. The low point was three consecutive passes that Craft had intercepted. "It was sloppy," Craft said. "On a day like this, when we come out without shoulder pads, it's hard to keep mental focus. It wasn't a total loss, but it wasn't what we wanted out of it, and it wasn't what I wanted out of it." The performance on offense didn't have Coach Rick Neuheisel pressing the panic button, but his assessment of Craft was that "this was the first day in a while that I thought he took a step backwards."

The pendulum swung for UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft, and the Monday morning quarterbacking was easy to predict. Craft was a bum, throwing four passes for interceptions in the first half against Tennessee in the opener. Craft was a hero, taking the Bruins on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that led to a 27-24 overtime victory. Neither moniker has stuck just yet. The indications from the first game are that things can go either way. But in the week since the game, Craft has seemed more poised in practice.

USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow and new Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross said Thursday that Chow was not a candidate for the head-coaching job at Syracuse. Gross, in the midst of completing his responsibilities as a senior associate athletic director at USC, fired Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni on Wednesday, fueling speculation that he would hire Chow. But in separate interviews, Chow and Gross said they spoke late Wednesday night and agreed that the Syracuse job was not for Chow.

Less than two weeks before UCLA's season opener against Tennessee, Coach Rick Neuheisel ended the Bruins' quarterback battle when he named junior Kevin Craft as the team's starter before the afternoon practice Monday. Craft, who completed eight of 18 passes for 93 yards with three interceptions in UCLA's scrimmage Saturday, has been working exclusively with the Bruins' No. 1 unit, and Neuheisel said Craft has a better understanding of the offense than redshirt freshman Chris Forcier.

Matt Leinart will be near the top of Heisman Trophy lists in 2004 and has apparently entrenched himself as USC's starting quarterback for the next two seasons. Is strong-armed freshman John David Booty getting ready to scramble? "I'm not considering transferring or anything, if that's what people are thinking," Booty said this week. Booty, who gave up his senior football season at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, La., to enroll at USC, had hoped to challenge for the spot left vacant by 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer.

Mike Johnson has reached an agreement in principle to become an assistant coach at UCLA, according to a person inside the program who was not at liberty to speak on the matter. Johnson, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers, could be in place by the end of the week. His duties have yet to be defined, but with Norm Chow's status unclear, he could take over the offensive coordinator spot. Johnson has been a wide receiver and quarterback coach in the NFL and at Oregon State.

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel began reshaping his football program Saturday, firing defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough and wide receivers coach Reggie Moore, and said that more changes are coming after the Bruins' 4-8 season. Whether that means more firings or a "reshuffling" of the offensive staff remains to be seen. Neuheisel said he was "evaluating" the situation, leaving the status of offensive coordinator Norm Chow undetermined. Neuheisel said there would be no more dismissals of defensive coaches, but "there are certain other things I want to continue to consider.

Speculation about possible football coaching changes at UCLA has centered on offensive coordinator Norm Chow . Dangling even more precariously is defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough . Coach Rick Neuheisel has said he will evaluate each of his assistant coaches at the end of the season, but Chow recently was awarded a two-year contract extension. Though it has yet to be signed, that would require Chow quitting or a hefty buyout for him not to return. Meanwhile, Bullough is at the end of his contract, and the shaky performance of a young Bruins defense could make him a fall guy for the team's poor record.

Rick Neuheisel made it clear during a Monday afternoon news conference that he was not ready to commit to bringing back offensive coordinator Norm Chow next season. Chow made it clear Monday evening that the decision was out of his hands, saying, "I would like to come back. I have an agreement. No one is more disappointed in the offense than me. Certainly it is his prerogative to do that. He can let us go, stay with us or not. " Chow is in the third year of a three-year contract but has agreed in principle to a two-year contract extension believed to be worth about $500,000 a season.

The sights and sounds at the Rose Bowl Saturday night. UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel up on the big screen, telling the few remaining Bruins fans, "I promise you, we won't give up … " Stanford tackle Derek Hall, almost skipping to the locker room, telling teammates, "Man, we sacked L.A. " Of the two, one can be taken as fact. By the time Stanford finished off a 35-0 victory over the Bruins in a Pacific 10 Conference opener, it seemed clear that there was trouble in Westwood.

If there has been one constant thought during UCLA's training camp this summer, it's that freshman Anthony Barr appears ready to play college football. Barr, 6 feet 5 and 228 pounds, has been impressive playing the F-back spot in the pistol offense. The position is similar to the type of motion receiver the Bruins used the last two seasons, only there are more opportunities as a runner and receiver. "It's not just power blocking all the time," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said.

Matt Leinart proved he could seize an opportunity. Now, he intends to seize the day. When top-ranked USC plays No. 4-ranked Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Thursday, USC's quarterback can complete his remarkable emergence this season by leading the Trojans to a share of the national title. "The season that I've had, that the team has had -- I think no one really expected this," said Leinart, a redshirt sophomore who had never thrown a pass in college before the opener against Auburn.

Offense 14, Defense 9. It may not be the 13-9 score still talked about around Westwood -- UCLA's 2006 victory over USC -- but it did allow the Bruins' first and second offenses to claim victory in a scrimmage Saturday. Still, it also confirmed some suppositions about the 2008 Bruins' strengths and weaknesses. The glass-half-full view was that the Bruins' defense can put points on the scoreboard. The glass-half-empty view was the offense seemed just as capable of keeping points off the scoreboard.

UCLA heads for the Smoky Mountains to play Tennessee, looking to show that last week's victory over San Diego State wasn't done with smoke and mirrors. The Volunteers will be out to avenge last year's loss to the Bruins at the Rose Bowl. Times staff writer Chris Foster looks at the key matchups and issues: Highly coordinated Tennessee offers the full Monte. Defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin joined his son, Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin, in Knoxville, bringing with him 25 years of NFL experience.

When the head coach opens up a postmortem by praising the defense for a "great day," and says how "proud" he is of the unit, it's a sign those on the offense should brace themselves for what follows. "Our offensive football team has got to take the onus to try to match that intensity," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "We got to play harder as an offense. It has to happen for us to be the kind of football team we want to be." There was frustration in Neuheisel's voice after Monday's practice.